


Again and Again

by PendulumChanges



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Angst, Homophobia, M/M, gapfiller, post-bashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-04
Updated: 2008-12-04
Packaged: 2017-10-10 14:36:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/100850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PendulumChanges/pseuds/PendulumChanges
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>gapfiller between 401 and 402</p>
            </blockquote>





	Again and Again

We got the call at 7 in the morning. Justin rolled off of me as I struggled to twist around and reach the phone on the bedside table.

"Ungmf… hello?"

"Brian." It was Debbie, her voice so quiet. My heart sped up and I opened my eyes as I sat up in bed, suddenly wide awake.

"What's wrong?"

"It's about Sunshine."

"What about him? He's fine. He's right here." My heart slowed down as I reached out and touched his back, reassuring myself that he really was fine. He really was right here where he belonged. He hadn't even really woken up when the phone rang and I could tell from his breathing that he was already sound asleep again.

"No. I mean, it's about... I didn't mean... he, um, he needs…" She trailed off into silence and sighed. I'd never heard her like this, completely unable to say what she wanted to say. Deb always spoke her mind, whether you wanted to hear what she had to say or not. Nothing ever silenced her.

"Deb... what is it?"

The seconds ticked by as I listened to her take a long shaky breath. I was just starting to lose my patience when she finally whispered her news.

"There was a bashing."

My heart sped up again, but this time my eyes closed. In an instant the memories were there, flooding through my brain, flashing before my eyes. His smile. And that last laugh. The mirror. And my pounding footsteps. The weight of the bat in my hands. And the stillness on the cement. The coppery smell of blood. So much blood. Too much blood.

"Shanda- I mean, Darren… He got attacked when he left Woody's last night. He's alive. He's in the hospital. But they - there was a whole fucking gang of them - they beat the shit out of him. He's got a broken leg and some broken ribs… shit… hang on."

The muffled sound of her blowing her nose came through the phone.

The strength was back in her voice when she started speaking again. "I didn't want Justin to hear about it when he got to the diner for his shift later. News is going to travel fast. Everyone on Liberty Avenue knows Shanda Leer… but Justin is friends with Darren. And he's going to be upset about this… I thought it would be best if he heard it from us first."

I didn't know what to say, but my throat was so tight I probably couldn't have spoken anyway. Deb said she'd talk to us later and hung up.

I lay down next to Justin and waited; running my fingers softly over the back of his head, through his hair, down his back, over and over and over again.

**Author's Note:**

> [Posted December 21, 2008]
> 
> Dear Fandom,
> 
> I've just come across a fic by suzvoy, "This Time" (http://www.suzvoy.com/qaf/thistime.html), that I must have read before at some point and that I now realize most certainly had a significant subconscious influence on my recently posted ficlet, "Again and Again". I wasn't thinking of "This Time" when I was writing my ficlet. Tonight I was just looking for something to read and came across it in one of my many random bookmarks. When I started reading I quickly realized that the base storyline from the first section of the fic - Debbie calling very early in the morning to let Brian and Justin know that Darren/Shanda was bashed - made it into my brain whenever I read it before. I guess the idea stuck, even though the source didn't. I don't really remember reading it before, but it's familiar enough that I'm sure I did.
> 
> I'm sorry for the inadvertent quasi-plagiarism. Go read "This Time" because it's awesome and suz filled the gap first.
> 
> love,  
> Pend


End file.
